


Fire

by TheTurtleFromHell



Category: Castlevania (Cartoon), 悪魔城ドラキュラ | Castlevania Series
Genre: Drabble, Heavy Angst, Hurt No Comfort, M/M, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:35:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22313368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTurtleFromHell/pseuds/TheTurtleFromHell
Summary: It is a well known fact that the fire which warms the hearth may also burn down the home. The same can be said of love.
Relationships: Dracula & Isaac Laforeze
Comments: 8
Kudos: 18





	Fire

Isaac walked down the halls briskly, silently hoping to himself that the court wouldn’t start tearing each other part before he could return with explanation concerning Dracula’s absence.

He came to the study door, lightly tapping on its surface, “My Lord?” he called.

No answer.

Sighing, he opened the door and walked inside, “My Lord, the meeting started an hour ag-, oh…”

Dracula, Lord of the Vampires, King of the Night, was sprawled on the floor in front of the fireplace, gazing into the flames with empty eyes. Isaac knelt by his side, pushing aside his horror and sorrow as he gently brushed his hair from his face.

He’d been trying for months to get his friend to eat, checking his personal cold storage every morning he woke up and becoming increasingly worried each time he saw the levels had not gone down. He had tried bringing him buckets of blood from whatever wild game or unfortunate street hermit he happened upon, still warm from the kill when he served it. 

Still, Dracula starved, appetite crushed by grief. One could hardly recognize the man, the once proud lord who now struggled to find the right word as he spoke, prone to dissociative states and fainting spells.

Isaac grunted as he lifted his friend onto the chair, grabbing a blanket from the chest in the far side of the room. As strong as his desire to cut his wrists and force some blood down his Master’s throat was, his loyalty was stronger. Dracula wished to starve, and he would not impede that.

Still, he thought as he draped the blanket over him, he hoped that the fast would end soon. For Dracula’s own sake, if not for the sake of the war. He looked back at Dracula one last time, before shutting the door behind himself.

“Isaac!”

The human looked down the hall, his calm eyes meeting the crazed angry gaze of Godbrand.

“Where the fuck is he!?” he snarled, “He tells us not to be late and then doesn’t show up to his own fucking meetings!?”

“Dracula sends his apologies.” Isaac replied calmly in the face of fangs and rage, “There were unforeseen situations in Gresit, Lord Dracula is working on troop strategies at the moment. Surely you can forgive him for choosing to address an emergency, right?”, the question was more a warning than a question.

Godbrand scoffed, “I want to hear it from the bastard himself.”

“You can try,” he said, “But he is quite upset with his soldiers at the moment, I don’t think you’d want that anger redirected onto you.”

The vampire cocked a brow in confusion, “What, you worried for me all of a sudden?”

Isaac shook his head, “Worried for you? No, I’d just rather you not interrupt his business, unless you’re contemplating suicide, to which I’d say go ahead.”

“You’re a ballsy little human, aren’t ya?” Godbrand laughed, “Telling me I’m scared of him, you think you know better?”

Isaac said nothing in reply.

Godbrand glanced between him and the door, sighing, “Fine, but tell him I want a word with him when he’s done. He’s the one who called us here in the first place, he should give us some respect.”

“Of course.” Isaac nodded, watching with a slight smirk as he stomped down the hall.

-

Starvation was not something he was used to experiencing. 

But he couldn’t bring himself to eat. Not cold blood, not warm blood, animal, human, nothing. It just didn’t fill him anymore.

Three months into the war, his forgemasters were hard at work, his generals calculating plans, and where was the one supposed to be orchestrating it all? 

Alone in his chambers, wasting away.

He was weaker than he had been in centuries, his body thinning, his mind becoming lost in a fog. 

The fire crackled, and he was suddenly in his body again. He groaned and shifted, his body aching down to the bones. He went to hold a hand to his face, only to find himself covered with a blanket.

He squinted in confusion at the fabric, holding in his hands as he wondered who placed it on him. Who would cover him like he was a frail old lady with a cold?

He held it to his face and breathed deeply, seeking his answer in its scent. It smelled of iron and earth, herbs and old books.

Isaac.

Dracula could see it now, the image of the human tucking a monster in for the night. How truly ironic. It was also touching, he thought as he folded the blanket, and mildly concerning. 

He didn’t have to question whether or not Isaac was loyal, that much was true, but he feared that it ran deeper than that, in the way that if an outsider saw the way the human acted towards his lord, they would call it love.

Isaac refused to acknowledge it as such. He called it devotion, he said it was a means to achieve something they both desired, a friendship even, if he had been feeling particularly touchy-feely, but he refused to call it love. Once, earlier in the friendship, Dracula had pushed the issue of love on the human.

_ “You say there is no love, and yet your actions prove otherwise.” Dracula had said, sitting in the study and watching him translate an ancient scroll. _

_ “My actions are not out of love.” Isaac deadpanned, “They are merely a reflection of the equal footing between us. Unlike others, I understand you, and you understand me. So you see, this is just a relationship of equals, helping each other attain what the other wants.” _

_ “Is that not love?” he pressed, “Is that not what people seek when they speak of soulmates and fated lovers?” _

_ Isaac shrugged, “I never cared for romance novels.” _

_ He chuckled, looking over the human’s shoulder, “I wonder though, why you are so against the idea that love exists.” _

_ Isaac’s pressed the pen into the paper slightly harder, a barely noticeable change in demeanor, “Love exists, perhaps, but it cannot flourish. The world is unclean, toxic even. Like oil in water, it will smother whatever it comes across. Maybe one day, in a purer world, love may exist, but not here, not now.” _

_ “And if this world was to exist…” Dracula hummed, “Would you love me then?” _

_ Isaac’s hand stiffened, freezing writing, “... no.” _

_ “No?” _

_ “I…” Isaac swallowed, “I don’t… I can’t…” _

_ Dracula’s amused smile quickly changed into a worried frown, “Isaac?” _

_ “No. I can’t love you.” he said, voice growing frantic, “You don’t, you don’t know what happens, what happened to those I love!” he clutched at his chest, on the verge of hyperventilation, “I don’t want to, I can’t lose you! I can’t, not again, not again, not again-!” _

_ “Isaac!” he rushed to his friend’s side in a heartbeat. He could remember trying to remind him to breathe, trying to speak over incoherent sobs and saying anything he could think of to stop the overwhelming trembles that wrecked Isaac’s body. It was one of the very few times he had actually seen the human come undone… _

He never brought up the possibility of love between them ever again. It was better that way, for Isaac’s sake if nothing else. Loving and losing a human had gotten him into this mess, and yet…

And yet he couldn’t shake of the love for the other human in his life, despite knowing what was on the line. He had tried living by Isaac’s philosophy, tried referring to it as anything but what he feared it was, but it was all futile. He already felt so broken, so helpless and empty inside… he couldn’t imagine what losing Isaac would do to him, and it scared him to try.

As he placed the blanket back into the chest, shutting the lid gently, he made his decision. 

He would not make the same mistake. He would not lose Isaac, he would not let him die, not when Dracula could intervene this time.

And so he went through his closet that night, pulling out an old distance mirror.

Not again, as Isaac would say, not again.

**Author's Note:**

> man, if only these two could work out their feelings and trauma, maybe it could work


End file.
